Survey of the Progress of The International Working Men’s Association

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The International Working Men’s Association was founded at a meeting on September 28, 1864 in St. Martin’s Hall, London. This meeting was attended by representatives of the principal European nations (Germany, Poland, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Italy). The election took place of a provisional Central Committee charged with the tasks of editing the manifesto, drawing up the regulations and establishing branches throughout Europe.

Our present wish, in advance of the [Geneva] Congress is to give an account of what has been achieved to all the members of the Association, as well as to those who have not yet joined.

ENGLAND

A large number of the English working men’s societies* have accepted the principles of the International Association and are affiliated to it (the society of bricklayers, the shoemakers, the cabinet-makers, the tailors, etc.)...

[The reader should remember that the English working class is partly organised. Indeed its societies (trade-unions) comprise all the members of a singular industry. Some of these societies contain a considerable number of men; the shoemakers, for example, number around 30,000 members.]

At the present time the societies of the carpenters, coopers, joiners, etc., are ready to become members.

The reform movement has absorbed the entire attention of the working class for a moment and the entire activity of the Central Council. But for some time past deputations from the Central Council have been sent to all the working men’s societies in order to acquaint them with its principles and to invite them to join. These deputations have everywhere been warmly received.

In London the Central Council has established a newspaper, The Commonwealth, which has become its official organ.

A German branch and a French branch of the International Association have been formed.

But its greatest title to public attention is that it has awakened and sustained in the English working class the consciousness of its own political power, a consciousness that had been lost since the reaction of 1848, as was pointed out in the Inaugural Address. The stimulus it has provided in this respect has been so great that the society of shoemakers has deleted from its statutes the clause which forbade it to concern itself with politics; the society of masons is in the process of doing likewise.

It is the International Association which induced the workers to persevere in their anti-slavery policy (luring the American War. The International was one of the first to send a message of congratulations to Lincoln on his re-election. Lincoln replied and strongly urged the members of the Association to continue its campaign for union and harmony.

The Association has taken the initiative in the movement of the Reform League. After the first meeting of the reformists an organisational and agitational committee was set up. It was composed of 27 members, 24 of whom belonged to the Central Council, and it was these who called for universal suffrage . At a time when the entire English press clapped its hands and applauded the government’s treatment of the Fenians, The Commonwealth was alone in venturing to raise its voice in their defence. The Central Council even sent a request to the Secretary of State to be granted an interview with the Minister in order to plead for better treatment for the prisoners. The request was refused.

The International Association has latterly achieved a success which has modified the attitude of the press towards it. The journeymen tailors had been locked out by their employers, who immediately sent agents to the Continent to recruit workers to replace them. The Central Council warned its correspondents, who managed, either by word of mouth or through the press, to thwart the plans of the employers. However, a certain number of German workers, who originated in towns where the International Association has no members, did arrive in Edinburgh. Two of their compatriots were dispatched to meet them and on their return they were able to report to the Central Council, announcing the workers’ departure, which in fact took place a few days later.

[In England, the employers as well as the workers go on strike. They close their workshops and set their wretched employees out on the street. This is what is happening at the moment in Sheffield where the workers in the woollen industry are without work and all the other societies have come to their aid.
At the request of Odger, its President, the Central Council intends to discuss the question of the war and will call a large meeting of workers to sound out popular feeling.]

SWITZERLAND

It is above all in Switzerland that the International Association has experienced the most rapid growth and has achieved some positive results. It has established branches in almost all the towns o Switzerland: Geneva, Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux, La Chauxde-Fonds, St.-Imier, Sonvillier, Porrentry, Bienne, Basle, Zurich, Aubonne, Wetzibonne, etc.

The International Association is the owner of three newspapers, two written in French, the Voix de l'Avenir and the Journal de l'Association Internationale, and one in German, Der Vorbote. All the Swiss papers have put their publicity at the service of the Association.

In Lausanne the members of the Association undertook work for the state last winter, earning around 24,000 francs, with the aim of providing workers with work during the idle season. The workshop, managed by the workers themselves and without the participation of any employer, was a source of astonishment to visitors and the municipal authorities. The Association has set up a bank known as the Caisse du credit mutuel with a capital of 20,000 frs divided into shares of 5 francs each. – A workers’ circle has been created.

In La Chaux-de-Fonds a bakers’ co-operative has been established and a butchers’ co-operative has been announced. Hardly had the bakery been started when the bakers lowered the price of bread to 16 centimes a pound. Nor has the project of the butchers’ co-operative failed to have an impact on the price of meat; the butchers have already reduced it by 9 centimes.

In Geneva a consumers’ society is being formed. In Offenbach it has been decided to create funds for the construction of workers’ homes, on the lines of the familistère [a workers’ community based on Fourierist principles] of Guise, near Paris.

GERMANY

The International Association in Germany, as in France, has not been able to develop very far, owing to the absence of freedom! Nevertheless it has succeeded in forming branches in Leipzig, Hamburg, Hanover, Mainz, Berlin, Pelewodau, Lulingen, Langenbielau, Puilberg, Wult, Eudorf, etc.

With the approach of war [the Austro-Prussian war of 1866], greater freedom has been allowed and so the Association is now better able to prosper. All the chief leaders of the German working-class movement have accepted its principles and are actively engaged in propagating them.

FRANCE

The International Association has branches in a number of towns: Paris, Lyons, Bordeaux, Caen, Neufchâteau, Argentau, Rennes, Rouen, Grandville, etc., etc.

Although little developed as yet, it has rendered a service to the working class of Lyons. The tulle workers were on strike and were about to give in because their bosses had threatened to bring in English workers who, it was alleged, were paid less. The workers asked for information and the Central Council replied that the opposite was the case. So they persevered and obtained their demands.

BELGIUM

Several branches have been established in Brussels, Antwerp, Liege, Verviers, Ghent, Namur, Patignies, etc. The society known as Le Peuple is federated with the International Association, and its organ, the Tribune du Peuple, now belongs to the Association.

In the Belgian Reform movement, it is the Association that has exercised the greatest influence and through its numerous meetings it has succeeded in focussing reformist aspirations unequivocally on the issue of universal suffrage.

ITALY

Hitherto Italy has been preoccupied with the questions of unity and has not been able to devote much thought to social problems. However the Central Committee of all the Italian workers’ societies has accepted the principles of the International Association and has undertaken to promote its ideas. Branches already exist in Genoa, Milan, etc.

AMERICA

The Association is in communication with New York and a number of towns in Massachusetts.